(Flashback)

The hospital was a bustle of activity. Nurses running around, surgeons hurrying from one emergency to another, concerned family lounging about making small conversation. Shannon's room was silent however. She lay in her bed; unable to move for fear that the pain would destroy her. It wasn't a physical pain, it was inside her. Moving, fluid, and unstoppable. No morphine could dull it.

Shannon was curled in the fetal position, using the tips of her fingers to touch the very sensitive deflated skin of her stomach. She'd been found quickly, the neighbors had heard screaming and arguing, and gotten to the hospital within thirty minutes. They'd done an emergency C-section and taken her child. It had been a baby girl. Shannon had decided to name her Samantha. She hadn't survived the night.

Shannon had suffered a concussion and internal bleeding. She was fine now; the doctors had taken care of all of that. They couldn't help the buzzing in her head though. It wasn't the head injury. It was the hate.

As if conjured, the door opened and Boone walked in. "Oh, Shan! Look what he's done."

Shannon bit her tongue. There was no use in saying that it was his fault. "Where is he?"

Boone walked to the window and pulled open the shades. He was delaying, it was his tactic and Shannon knew it well. As harsh noon light spilled in Boone turned to her. The light cast his face in shadows and made it impossible to read his face as he replied to her question. "After Jean pushed you out the window, he went into the bathroom and slit his wrists."

Shannon grimaced and hid the tears glistening in her eyes. Her love was gone. Never to return. For a second Shannon considered joining him there, in the afterlife. With her baby. Then Boone spoke again.

"I've paid the police on the scene. They're not going to release the details. It would be bad for the company. The story will be that it was an accident. In trying to save you from falling, he cut himself. In the aftermath of your accident no one thought to look for him and he died. That's what the press will be told."

Shannon struggled to sit up. She noticed that Boone was in no hurry to help. When he did try she grabbed his hand. "Why?"

He looked confused. She clarified. "Why the story?"

"It's what Mom told me to do."

"Must you always do what Elizabeth says?" Shannon asked, hoping against hope that somewhere in that feminine male facade there was a smidgen of defiance. It would have made her consider not hating him. There wasn't though.

"Yes, she's my boss and mother. Get used to it Shan." Boone turned as the door opened and gestured to whoever was coming in. "I brought you some flowers. They're from everyone back home. They're all waiting for us to return."

"Return?"

Boone glanced at Shannon as he fussed with the arrangement. "Yeah, return. You're coming home with me. It'll be better there, away from the press."

"But I…"

"But nothing. Mom has ordered me to bring you home." Boone leaned over as if to kiss Shannon good-bye and looked hurt when she flinched away. "I'll come see you in the morning. I have meetings." He walked out without looking back and Shannon fought to keep the bile down. Reaching over indifferently she gently pushed the flowers off the table and sent them slamming into the floor. Glass broke, water rushed and the beautiful flowers inside got mangled. Shannon felt oddly satisfied as the silence of the room washed over her. In her mind she could already feel a plan forming.

Her life had always been about money. Getting money, keeping money, spending money. She wondered how her "family" would feel when she got done with bleeding them dry.

Shannon ignored the pulling in her stitches as she reached for the phone. "Operator? Can you connect me to Isabella Frances? Thank you." First she had to get the hell away from here.

(End Flashback)


Shannon leaned back into Sayid's waiting arms. He hadn't rejected her. He understood what she'd gone through.

"Shannon, you must let this hate go."

"After five years, it's hard."

Sayid's arms tightened for a moment then he turned her so that he could look her in the eye. "I care for you and want you to be happy. Holding this inside you has only harmed you inside."

Shannon looked away as tears came to her eyes. "I know." Sayid pulled her head to his chest and let her cry. It had been a long time coming. Shannon had held this pain inside herself and had chosen him as the person to share it with. In the aftermath Sayid felt deeply connected to her and worried that he was beginning to fall for her in a way he hadn't since he'd been with Nadia. And letting her go had been too painful. He was unsure of if he would be able to let Shannon go.

While telling Sayid her story, the sun had set. Already it was becoming chilly. Fires were popping up around the beach and people were beginning to settle down. Sayid leaned down to tell Shannon something, but stopped when he saw that all the emotional and physical exertion of the day and caused her to go to sleep. Sayid reached for the small blanket he slept with and laid back. He pulled Shannon up so that she was sleeping with her head on his shoulder and proceeded to start to have the best night's sleep he'd had since getting stuck on the island.

Shannon was another matter. It was in the wee hours of the night that her nightmare began. It started as it used to, back when the pain of Jean's death was still fresh.

She's in the nursery, and she's looking at the teddy bear wallpaper. She reaches out to caress the wall, but when she looks at her hand it's covered in blood. She looks down and sees that the sundress she's wearing is also covered in blood. Shannon backs away from the walls, which have begun to bleed tears from the teddy bear's eyes. She bumps into someone and he wraps his arms around her. Shannon looks over her shoulder and sees the decomposing face of Jean. She opens her mouth to scream but what comes out is a baby's cry.

Then the dream changes. Now she's on the island. Everyone is crowded around something down the beach. Shannon begins to walk towards them and she steps on something. Looking down she sees that it's a baby rattle. Shannon steps over it and continues but as she walks she notices that the beach is littered with baby paraphernalia. She continues to walk to the crowd. She pushes her way through the crowd of automatons that have taken the place of her fellow survivors and finally sees what the commotion is about. It's Claire and she's in labor. But no one helping. She's just lying there bleeding and screaming and everyone is just looking at her. Shannon hunkers down and tries to help but the baby is already coming out. Shannon calls for Jack and Sayid and Sun but she can't find them. Shannon lifts the baby from the bloody sand and wipes away the mucus. She smiles as she goes to hand the baby to Claire, but a hand stops her. Shannon looks up and sees the Claire is now standing beside her. Claire leans down and begins to whisper.

"How could you have let Samantha die, Shannon? You could have stopped it. YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED IT!" Claire is squeezing Shannon's shoulder so hard that she's begun to bleed. She tries to pull away and drops the baby as she does. Falling to the sand the baby shatters like glass and suddenly Shannon is awake, gasping for air as she realizes that someone is squeezing her.

"Stop! Stop…" Shannon wheezes as she pushes away from whomever is holding her.

"It's me, Shannon. Sayid."

"Sayid?" Shannon asks as she finally gets some air.

"Yes, you were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you but you were very deeply asleep."

Shannon sat up and pushed her sweat soaked hair out of her face. "Yeah, I…um…I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

Sayid smiled and sat up on his elbow. He rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her. "Yes, but it doesn't matter. I enjoy being with you Shannon. Even if it is at…" Sayid looked at his watch. "…four a.m. Do you want to talk about it?"

Shannon settled into the curve of Sayid's body. He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him protectively. "It's just a stupid dream. After…what happened I had them for a while. It's strange that I would have one now. I haven't had one for a while."

Sayid smiled into Shannon's hair. "It is probably the stress of telling me what happened. I know it was tough for you to tell someone."

Shannon turned over and hugged Sayid. "I told someone else."

"Who?"

"Jean Frances's mother. I thought she should know the truth. She's the one who helped me."

Sayid glanced down at the top of Shannon's head confused. "Helped you what?"

"Steal Boone's family fortune."

Sayid leaned back. "What?"


Oh! Cliffhanger! Shannon didn't tell Sayid about what she did! Also Toe-Knee…thank you for the correction! I totally did not take French in high school…I tool Spanish…so…Buenos Dias!

Just so you all know I made a mistake with the French. It should have been Ma Maison instead of what I put. THANK YOU!

Next Chapter: The Frenchwoman